HOW GRAMM COULD DO IT

WITH LESS THAN A MONTH TO GO BEfore the Iowa caucuses, Phil Gramm knows this is no time to be timid. So when much of the country praised Bob Dole recently for breaking a legislative logjam and reopening the Federal Government, Gramm, alone among his rivals, rushed a TV spot onto the air that claimed the Senate leader had "caved in" on a balanced budget. Gramm's frontal attack was a bold gamble that Dole's statesmanship, while it wins praise with Americans generally, might bomb with G.O.P. conservatives in the first big presidential contest next month.

Judging from the 550 people who...